A blog for The Urutsk Cycle and Related Subjects,
including the URUTSK: World of Mystery RPG.
Shipwrecked survivors of a galaxy-spanning empire (ruined when the core exploded) settle upon a wetlands world occupied by humans and other species. They then poke through ruins of their Ancient ancestors as they strive to regain space and then, starflight.

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

As of now, I have settled on (AB / 5) incremental increase on the Critical Threshold.

Since I allow characters to purchase Levelled-capabilities, like Attack Bonus, at one-higher than their current Character-Level, I've pushed the value back to +5 AB, which is purchasable at Character-Level 4.

So far, I have two very strong votes for a Critical Hit determination Chart-thingie.--Looking at my Arduin book, I ... > sigh <---What can I say, guys? This stuff is not attack-type specific; ranges from low-power 'paper cut' to 'body shredded: instant death'. I'd rather give weapons/attacks the power they deserve and have it pretty clear that getting shot by a Mk. VII Blaster is just absolutely going to ruin your day from the game-maths, rather than even Rolemasterean Effect Type Charts, as silly-fun as those are.

I've looked at the Avalon Hill RuneQuest Deluxe box; I've even broken out AFTERMATH!, and neither of them goes anywhere into that kind of detail.--I'm afraid that if folks want that kind of detail, they'll have to write up their own charts or what-have-you.

It has become fairly apparent that the 100 Archetypal Locations isn't going to work in the format I had originally intended, and that several charts would be the better solution.--As it stands, including a four or five paragraph explanation, I am already up to 5k words. I know you folks don't want to read huge blocks of data only to swap-out particulars.

"Give them charts to roll on!"

You got it, or, at least, will get them.--Fortunately, extracting the data into the new format won't be an epic undertaking.

49-65- Taiga: defined by both ‘lichen woodlands’ bordering the Subarctic and consisting of tree spreads with lichen ground cover, and ‘closed forests’ bordering the Temperate Cool composed of densely-spaced trees with mossy ground cover.This zone is the single largest percentage of forest on the planet.

66-76- Temperate Cool: are humid with a forest canopy composed tall mature trees, a shade tolerant understory, a sub-canopy of smaller mature trees, saplings, and suppressed juvenile trees awaiting an opening in the canopy. Below the sub-canopy is a shrub layer of low growing woody plants, and diverse ground cover.

77-84- Continental: typically, winter temperatures are cold enough to support snow cover each year, while summer produces moderate precipitation.These regions are a mixture of forest, tall-grass prairie, and very productive farmlands.

85-86- Temperate Warm: typified by rains throughout the year, hot and very wet summers, and mild winters with occasional cold spells.These regions are ideally suited to agriculture, especially that of citruses, grapes, melons, and olives.

87-91- Subtropical: characteristically cool winters and hot, humid summers, with significant amounts of precipitation throughout the year in most areas. Winter rainfall is derived from large storms that westerly winds steer eastward, while summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms, occasional tropical storms, and hurricanes/typhoons.

92-99- Tropical: marked by high temperatures, very humid and cloudy conditions, and heavy rainfall. While winds are usually light, powerful tropical storms can be problematic.The sun is nearly overhead in these regions so it is evenly hot all year.No where else in the world are conditions as ideal for sprawling, lush warm-climate rainforests.

00- Arid/Hyperarid: any area characterised by a net moisture deficit, and receives less than 10" annual rainfall. These climates include arid areas in temperate regions, and often appear devoid of life, but the flora and fauna have adapted to survive extremely hot days and cold nights when the temperature plummets.

The range to the left is both the percentile-die roll for random determination on the 'big map' scale of overland travel, as well as the actual percentage distribution of the various climatic zones found on Urutsk.